Law Abiding Scientist
by TharaCorleone
Summary: When Jaxx lets himself get arrested as part of a plan, he's ready to put on his best performance to gain the Sentinels' trust. However, complications soon arrive when the GHEIST realise he may actually have feelings for the police...
1. Britton And Wissenschaft

"And just how was I going crazy in my sleep, per say?"

"You were chewing on the bedsheets like ein puppy and going "OM NOM NOM". Then you yelled "Victory is mine!" before finally calming down again."

"Ok, you chew on the bedsheets _every_ night and _I'm_ the bad guy."

There had been stories circulating all over Clint City that the GHEIST had acquired a raging powerhouse; so when the other clans had noticed just a slightly demented, gentleman villain amongst the scientists' ranks, it made them begin to wonder whether Scott's boasts of the Rescues' recent heroics were nothing more than bullshit.

Said gentleman villain had been surveying his clan's grounds via the monitors connected to the barrage of cameras dotted around their territory, along with Ernst who kept coming and going as he pleased; upon the Ratman's previous return, he seemed to have been in possession of some cheese, and now said cheese was causing a spot of messy bother.

"Please don't get crumbs on the control panel, Mr Wissenschaft."

"I can't help it if I'm ein naturally messy eater," Ernst protested, indignantly continuing to drop crumbs onto the floor. After a couple more gulps, he couldn't help looking alarmed at the lack of yellow in his claws; without word or signal to Jaxx, the Ratman immediately rushed off on all fours, most likely on the search for more cheese to nibble on.

"This disappearing act is beginning to get old!" Jaxx exclaimed after him, but it was more in humour than irritation. Turning to face the monitors once again, he couldn't help feeling a little disorientated at the sheer amount of screens staring back at him; in his old domain, he'd only had a few, petite relays along his own control panel, and had grown too used to them.

"I wonder what we're all up to today, Clint City," he began, sniggering a little. "Mr Cameron's protesting as always...Mr Romero's cleaning his Ferrari for the third time this week...I have no idea what Miss Hilton's up to...ah. Hello, my children."

Naturally pausing to take a longer look at the activity around the Red One Motel, he couldn't help smiling like a proud father; many may have been quick to point the finger at Ernst after the Xantiax incident, but it was actually Jaxx who had been unintentionally responsible for the Berzerk's birth. Being a dab-hand at chemicals and formulas, the redhead had been trying to find a gas that would bring out the raw anger in mankind. And whilst he'd gotten his desired results with his Xantiax prototype it came with the unwanted side effect of the "scarlet skin", which he had managed to rid himself of with the right set of chemicals. Sure that the prototype was foolproof, Jaxx had been lumbered with tonnes of the gas, so he'd ordered one of his henchman, Leeson, to simply dispose of it. Unfortunately, he hadn't known about Leeson's little score to settle with a certain motel manager, so he'd been surprised to hear that his prototype had been the cause of the new clan. To him, their success as a clan meant Xantiax had been no failure, and Jaxx had made a personal promise to keep on eye on his new "children" ever since.

However, his little reminiscence was soon broken by a certain Ratman's return.

"Ah, you're back, I see," he said, trying to hide the irritation in his voice with a strange sounding curiosity. "Just what on earth have you got there?"

Sure enough, Ernst had hold of a shiny, round something in his mouth; resisting quite a bit when the redhead tried to retrieve it from him, it was obvious he had grown quite attached to it. He couldn't help pouting a little when it was finally removed from his clutches.

"This must be that new virus program that Zero-Deadly or whatever he likes to call himself has been working on," Jaxx said, carefully twiddling the disc between his gloved fingers as he tried to remove some of the sloppy, hybrid saliva. "C0P-0UT, huh? Must have been specifically made for use against the Sentinel-"

He suddenly stopped his words when he noticed Ernst's attention had been attracted by new events on the monitor.

"What is it?"

"Ist das Anderson?"

"No," his fellow GHEIST snarled, beginning to fiddle with a few buttons on the control panel. "They're guests we actually _want_. Hello, little police officers. Come to play with Uncle Jaxx, have we? Naughty officers. Naughty, _naughty_ officers. You should be tending to your prisoners, wouldn't want them escaping right now, would we?"

The whole clan had grown used to Jaxx's slightly psychotic sounding ramblings, and Ernst was no exception; rolling his eyes at the whole situation, he was growing rather tired of the redhead's constant chatter.

"It's the button on the left to send out Wurmhol, I think, be sure to send him out anytime soon," he interrupted, his tone a weird mixture of tiredness and eagerness. It was as if he was trying to be sarcastic but wasn't entirely sure how; his mood soon turning inquisitive when he noticed Jaxx stepping away from the control panel.

"Was in der..."

"Come, Mr Wissenschaft."

As Jaxx began to make his way out of the laboratory and into the sewers that connected the GHEIST's different functions and rooms, Ernst couldn't help wearing a rather confused expression as he obediently followed. It wasn't like the redhead to venture out into broad daylight; when he'd abducted his victims, it had been in the dead of night.

As the two males approached one of the sewers' many ladders, Jaxx couldn't help shuddering at the sheer feeling of the sewer water soaking through his pristine shoes; managing to shake off the odd sensation, he tightly gripped one of the grey, grimy rungs as if he convinced he was going to fall off at the slightest distraction.

"They're not going to leave until they've arrested someone," he explained, as he carefully began to make his ascent. "Or until they've blown the HQ up. _Again_ But not this time, not this time. I won't allow it."

"Wohin gehst du?"

"It's not where I'm going that matters, but what I'm going to be _doing_," Jaxx stated, winking as he flashed the Ratman a glimpse of "C0P-0UT" before placing the disc deep down into this pocket.

"You're a crazy, crazy dummkopf, you know that?"

"Farewell, Mr Wissenschaft!" He then exclaimed, ignoring the other male's comment as his sudden rise in volume caused an echo throughout the murky sewers; but not before hissing a rather devious sounding "Keep an eye on the monitors", and causing Ernst to roll his eyes once again in slight irritation. It was the third time this week he'd been made to keep watch, and due to his rat-like tendencies he didn't have the longest of attention spans.

Meanwhile, outside of the sewers, the Sentinel were wondering just what the hell was going on. On previous occasions, they would have already been face to face with the likes of Wurmhol, but they had little time to relax and savour the chance of not having to suffer through acid burning; noticing the sewer lid slide off it's resting place, as if someone was trying to make their way through, the police officers couldn't help tensing up. However, their faces were soon wearing what seemed like slightly confused expressions when they noticed the likes of Jaxx emerging from the hole. Well, in all honesty, they didn't actually know his name. They only knew he was the GHEIST's newest member and that he didn't like the Rescue an awful lot; but then again, the latter could have applied to _any_ of the scientists.

"Huh, new guy," Melvin announced, lowering his weapon and sounding rather unimpressed. "It's just the new guy, everyone, don't get _too_ excited."

"What? I'm not as arrestable as the other GHEIST simply because of my relative newness? That is not the case, officer, I can assure you. I'm just as, if not more dangerous than the grizzliest of my peers and brothers in scientific arms. That is true, I-"

"Alright, no one asked for your frickin' life story," the Sentinel interrupted, sighing in frustration. "Jeez, why do some GHEIST have to make a big song and dance about themselves?"

"Look at him, Mel. Does he really look the type who _wouldn't_ make a big thing of his persona?" Valentina asked, raising an eyebrow at her clan mate, before lowering her voice so her next words were for their ears only. "Ugh, no wonder Ash hates the asshole. The guy thinks classiness will make him look all proper and distinguished, but he just looks like a creepy, posh _twat_."

"I can hear _every_ word you know," Jaxx said, flashing a glimpse of demonic grin.

"Rewind for a moment, guys," Copper instructed, sounding rather suspicious. "We seem to be forgetting that a GHEIST is freely surrendering himself. Something's not right here surely."

"Yeah, _him_. He's not right in the _head_, the gas-guzzling Britard," Melvin responded, only to be on the receiving end of a highly annoyed "This isn't the time!".

Despite the arguing and debate amongst the Sentinel providing the perfect distraction for escape, Jaxx still stood infront of the line of fire; hands up, unarmed, and still wearing his slightly-demented, trademark smile.

"I'm all yours, officers. Just take me."


	2. Imprisonment

"GHEIST man walking!"

"I..I'd appreciate it if you just did this quickly and quietly...if only for the sake of my nerves."

As Valentina led him through the main cell corridor, Jaxx couldn't help feeling rather nervous; having only visited prisons in the company of his muscular goons, the fact he was being thrown into one practically alone was causing him to "shrink". He should have realised the more timid personalities would have shown themselves, but it was all part of his plan, even at the risk of a few odd looks from his fellow prisoners for looking as awkward as he did.

"I still don't know why you were so willing to give yourself up like that. Heh, maybe some of that will rub off on your friend."

"Oooh, _friend_," he said, snapping out of his nervous stance. "_You_ say friend. Friends are only good for those not smart enough to put their faith purely in fact. Facts never let you down or stab you in the back. Or act like pricks. So no friends for _me_, thank you. Just acquaintances who haven't pissed me off yet."

"Oh, I'd recognise that rambling _any_ day."

As he heard the cell door slam behind him, Jaxx's attention was focused on the figure who stood before him; after hearing certain kinds of stories throughout the laboratory, the redhead's reaction to reuniting with Luba seemed somewhat awkward, and this time it didn't seem to revolve around her mechanical arm.

"What's wrong, Jaxx? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"That odd little lad, who acts like the caretaker...he said you were-"

"_Never_ trust a single word that comes out of Strynge's mouth, Jaxx. He's the kind of guy who finds it fun to spread bullshit," Luba explained, feeling so irritated by that very fact that she could barely keep eye contact with her fellow GHEIST. "He probably started some rumour that I was dead, didn't he?"

"I'd...best not answer that," Jaxx replied, feeling the sweat forming on the back of his neck; despite the fact he'd had no part to play in the rumour spread, having his neck broken played no part in _his_ intended plan. And Luba was the kind of woman who easily got the wrong end of the stick and let anger take over, hence why assassination came so easily to her.

At that moment, they heard footsteps pattering on the prison floor; soon revealing themselves to belong to a certain Rebecca, Jaxx couldn't help feeling like it was the perfect time to initiate his good behaviour. Unfortunately, he still had a hint of his manic side showing in his smile.

"Afternoon, Miss Kyles."

The female's response was an awkward glance in his direction as she quickened her pace through the cells' main corridor.

"You're going to get a reputation for seeming like a pervert, you know," Luba commented, unable to keep herself from giggling slightly.

"I'm just trying to be nice, that's all."

"Nice?" She repeated, suddenly sounding quite disgusted at the very notion. "You're a member of the GHEIST, Jaxx. We don't do _nice_."

"Just because we don't do doesn't mean we _can't_. Nice does have it's advantages, Miss Rhinehart."

"What?"

"Think about it. The fact I'm not the looming hulk the Rescue made me out to be means people aren't taking all the rumours about me seriously. So it shouldn't be too hard to convince these morons of the law that I'm actually just a decent guy and they'll let me out ridiculously early like they do with _all_ prisoners they misjudge. Besides, I gave myself up _willingly_."

"And a true GHEIST would never go without a fight," The female continued, sounding rather impressed. "Heh, I don't care what Vryer says about you, you're one smart cookie!"

"And what does Mr "Oooh Look At Me, I Hatched Kolos" Cohen say about me, exactly?"

"I'd...best not answer that," she replied, copying her clanmate's earlier response and sounding a little awkward.

"Never mind about that. Once I'm out of captivity, I shall reek my revenge. I'll eradicate Anderson. I'll eradicate whichever harlot he's decided is his girlfriend this week. I'll eradicate the whole of that darn Rescue clan! Heck, I'll even eradicate the whole of the city including myself if I have to!...I'm joking on that last one. I could never kill myself. Couldn't kill any of my fellow GHEIST either. Actually, I could kill Mr Cohen. But not you, never you."

Noticing the slightly scared look that Luba was giving him, Jaxx couldn't help giving a nervous chuckle; yet nerves turned to realisation when he felt something bulky in his jacket pocket and produced the shiny disc from earlier that day.

"Oh, but not before leaving this and hoping they mistake it for their own."

Carefully grasping the disc from him, Luba couldn't help staring in awe as if she was trying to memorise the very object inside and out.

"C0P-0UT!" She gasped, as if she still couldn't believe it. "Zero Dead kept talking about this but I never thought he'd actually finish it. This could crash their system ten times over with negative chance of recovery. It would practically ruin the Sentinel!"

"That's right, Miss Rhinehart, announce the _entire_ agenda of affairs," Jaxx replied, rather sarcastically; though sarcasm soon turned to curiosity when he noticed a figure from the cell next door try to catch his attention.

"Hey, Jack the Ripper! Did I hear you right? You have a virus that could wipe the entire Sentinel force?"

"Well, a technological virus anyway, I..." The GHEIST male began, before suddenly cutting off when he realised he was confessing all to a complete stranger. "Just who the bloody hell are _you_?"

"The name's Patrick, but I often just go by Zatman," he replied, unable to keep from sounding a little hopeful that Jaxx might have known who he was.

"Yes, the exact same Zatman who's part of the Uppers," Luba said, feeling her clan mate would ask the next most-obvious question.

"But I thought rich people _never_ went to prison..."

"I won't be here for _too_ long if my clan's lawyers have anything to say about it," he explained, with a rather devious smirk on his face.

"Those guys must be as rich as you, given how many fights you get involved in," Luba commented, unable to keep herself from smirking. "So who was it this time? Ray? Armand? Griezzo?"

"One of the Rescue, actually," the Upper said, in a slightly pained way as he suddenly winced. "But that wasn't before I tried to teach your Vladimir a lesson and your stupid panther jumped me. Almost tore into my ankle. Tried to help get from the Rescue and their medicine was prison when Scott tried to pick a fight and I ended up flooring him."

Hitching his left trouser leg up slightly to reveal the ankle in question, his injury actually shocked the two GHEIST into silence; noticing it was not a gentle nibble but a savage chomp, the odd mixture of blood and bruising against the tender flesh hue meant they were unable to stop looking at it.

"Now _I_ have the sudden urge to bite someone," Jaxx announced, out of the blue; noticing the odd, slightly perturbed looks that Luba and Zatman were giving him, he couldn't help grinning rather nervously as he began to explain.

"I get these urges sometimes, it's ever since the gas..."

He trailed off, his words soon being replaced by slow and heavy breathing which soon turned to what looked like hyperventilation. Trying his best not to slip as he did so, Jaxx leant against and slowly slid down the prison wall; looking more and more pained by the second, when he finally reached the floor he was positioned in a somewhat awkward, leaning sit.

"What's happening to him?" Zatman asked, sounding a little irked. "Should we get a doctor? Do the Sentinel even _have_ a doctor?"

"A doctor isn't going to help," the redhead managed to declare, despite his constant pain and twinges.

"Jaxx..." Luba said, sounding rather wary as if she had the horrible feeling she knew what exactly was happening. "Just answer the question. What's up with you?"

"They took my gas and I bloody well need it!"


	3. It's Just The Gas

"Just what caused all of this anyway? Have you _always_ been like this?"

Jaxx couldn't help shooting Zatman a rather dark glance due to the fact he was expecting a long-winded explanation at that time of all times. However, he managed to settle his breathing patterns as he began to speak in a calm yet somewhat pained manner.

"Well...ever since the whole incident with Anderson and his so-called "heroics", I've found myself relying on short bursts of my Xantio-Serum just to get on with my life. You could say it's the unfortunate result of my overexposure."

"_Unfortunate?_" Luba interrupted, sounding unconvinced. "The stories say you injected yourself with the stuff!"

"Don't be so hasty in believing mere stories, Miss Rhinehart," the GHEIST male advised. "Anyway, the main point is that if I don't get my gas fix and _soon_, I'm going to be a right unstable wreck."

Engrossed in the chaos and urgency of the situation, they hadn't noticed the double doors of the corridor open with their usual deep "groan", upon realising just what was going on, Katja suddenly abandoned her previous tasks (which involved a check-up on some of the cells' more milder victims) and was now focused on finding the supposed, confiscated gas. Valentina may have had the honour of locking him up, but she couldn't help feeling slightly elevated at having the honour of potentially saving Jaxx's life.

Swiftly shoving piles of paper off the desks and opening every drawer and locker possible, Katja's frantic mood soon caught Copper's attention.

"Just what are you doing, rookie?"

"Trying to find the new prisoner's gas", she explained, starting to sound a little irritated when she noticed her leader's unchanged expression. "Give him a chance, sir. It's not like he's tried to attack any of us."

"Not _yet_, anyway. Just because he's a gentleman, and the fact it's obvious you have the hots for him, doesn't make him any less of a villain. Besides, Luba's in that cell with him. Who's to say he isn't just a distraction for when _she_ tries to attack you?"

He'd added the "obvious you have the hots for him" part as a cheap shot to make her back down due to embarrassment, but he couldn't help feeling slightly defeated when he noticed she was still searching for the gas.

"Sir, I've dealt with a _lot_ of medical episodes in my time," She said, sounding quite disgusted at his attitude. "Heh, I was the only one in the family who knew what to do when Travis had his asthma attacks. Jaxx isn't faking it. He may be GHEIST, but my gawd..._I'm_ not about to let anyone die."

"I doubt he's going to _die_," Copper scolded, but it was all in vain; having seen her find the gas canister and make her way towards the cells, he knew there was little chance Katja would change her mind. Orders were a top priority for her, but she was willing to against even _his_ instructions when it came to the subject of someone's suffering. Except if it was Robin. Then she simply would have laughed until the cows came home.

"Oh great, now I'm going to have to start looking for a replacement."

She suddenly stopped, unable to believe what she'd just heard. Trying her best to calm herself down from an inevitable hissy fit from having her honour offended, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her Leader's next declaration.

"_Laptop Battery_, rookie," he said, rather calmly as he held up a rather chunky, metallic, square-shaped object to the light. "As if I'd ever replace _you_."

"You replaced me with Valentina on her first flippin' day," the blonde female muttered, rather bitterly out of her fellow Sentinel's earshot; however, she was able to switch her scowl to a smile as she just about managed to push the door open with her shoulder, calling out as she took the first few steps into the main cell corridor.

"Jaxx?"

"Next to mine!"

Noticing the Uppers prisoner edged himself closer to the cell next door, she immediately quickened her step as she just about managed to open the heavy, metal entrance with one hand; Zatman seemed pleased to see her, yet Luba would giving her the darkest glare anyone had seen upon her face in a long time. If she gave you that look, the chances were almost certain that you'd be dead before the end of the day.

"Though we actually wouldn't have to go through this if you hadn't taken the gas away from him, bitch."

"I wasn't the one who took it off him so don't start having a go at me, _bitch_" Katja said, bravely shooting a somewhat serious glance in the GHEIST female's direction. However, her darkened mood soon lifted as she began to kneel down next to the redhead; with one hand taking control of what looked like part of an oxygen mask, and the other hand supporting him with a firm yet comforting grip on the shoulder.

"There we go," she cooed, watching over him rather protectively as she slowly "fed" him the gas. "Nice and gently, that's it."

Not wanting to take any more chances regarding his symptoms, Jaxx snatched the canister from the blonde Sentinel as he managed to navigate the "mask" on his own. After just a few seconds, he was safely out of his panicked state and was simply breathing deeply in his own, relaxed rhythm.

Shocked and surprised at the mere aspect of a Sentinel helping one of the scientists, never mind the actual observation, Luba and Zatman couldn't help looking at Katja in silent awe.

"Are you a secret member of the GHEIST we don't know about, hun?" She commented, making light of the situation but secretly hoping her fellow blonde wouldn't see it as a stab against her honour.

"I can assure you that's not the case," she responded, briskly but still with a smile on her face. "But it's like I said to Copper a few moments ago. GHEIST or not, I'm not about to just let someone die."

"Actually, Miss Noble," Jaxx began, struggling yet just about managing to sit up properly. "I wouldn't have _died_, per say."

"I'd heard about this from other members of the clan, but I wasn't sure whether I believed it," Luba began, sounding a little relieved. "Apparently, it has happened once before. He goes really crazy and unstable, imagine the likes of American Psycho over there but times it by 100."

"Wow...I don't think even _I'd_ be able to survive that," Zatman said, his tone slightly fearful but mostly impressed by the mere thought.

"Methane managed to stop him causing too much damage," the blonde GHEIST continued, sounding a little hesitant in her words. "But let's just say Dr Saw had a _lot_ of his time taken up after all the carnage."

"And I don't remember any of it!" Jaxx exclaimed in a sing-song way, sounding rather jubilous and a little drunk; the reason becoming obvious when he went to take another snifter of gas, giggling as he did so. However, he was soon sporting a rather childish pout when Katja suddenly snatched the gas away from him.

"I think you've had too much now," she said, with a rather humoured smile on her face.

"Don't tell me when I've had too much, woman!" He complained, sounding a little too whiny to be taken seriously; however, the more timid personalities took over when Katja began to slowly pull him up onto his feet. Noticing her then open the cell door after a quick tug or two of the metal bars, Jaxx couldn't help wondering whether his time was up already.

"I'm not doing this because you're special, and I'm certainly not your get out of jail free card," she explained, with a kind-sounding seriousness. "I'm doing this because a bit of air and a walk around will do you some good. But no trying to escape whilst you're here, promise?"

"Erm, ok," he replied, giving a single nod; he seemed calm but he was a little pensive, due to the promise-making aspect still seeming a bit foreign to him. "Promise."

"Shake on it," she said, holding out her hand, with the other placed on the pocket containing her pistol incase he tried anything. "There's witnesses here, so don't even think about crossing your fingers."

When the GHEIST male immediately grabbed and shook her hand with his own gloved digits, she couldn't help smiling , yet she found herself making a rather curious-sounding noise; catching the stares, the blonde police officer realised she couldn't keep her current musings to herself.

"How come it's only members from the _other_ clans who seem to show me any respect? No other _Sentinel_ would have gone through the motion so quickly and without question. Heck, they'd have been all snarky about it and made some snide remark, the meanies."

"Because the Sentinel don't care about your _past_ achievements, Miss Noble," Jaxx said, taking the female by the arm and sounding rather sympathetic. "They just care about you doing a good job, which you can't do when you keep getting hot and bothered about the past. I should know. I almost had Clint City on it's knees in terms of the underworld but the GHEIST just see me as some gas-ridden maniac. Which I admit, that's a perfect description for me at times. And I'd rather have them call me _that_ than Jack the Wanker or something like that."

The fact that they had begun to walk and talk meant they were too engrossed to notice a certain Upper's sudden outburst.

"Jack the Wanker! Now that is just epic," Zatman said, laughing quite heartily before he found himself the target of Luba's rather unimpressed stare.

"...what?"


	4. Hungry Little Secrets

"So you're taken by Kamakura, are you?"

Not sure whether the likes of Jaxx were _hitting_ on her or not, Katja couldn't help giggling nervously in case of any prying eyes, despite the fact they were up on the rooftop and concealed from anyone's view.

"I'm afraid I am," she said, sounding rather apologetic to spare his feelings, just incase. "Are you familiar with him?"

"He's not the oriental redhead, is he?"

"That's Melvin, and he would _kill_ you if you said he was oriental to his face," Katja commented, shaking her head at the thought of it all. "You thought I was bad with denying my Canadian heritage, he only wears those shades to hide his eyes. If a stranger heard him speak, they'd think he was any other American since he's "trained" his voice to remove any trace of accent. I mean, to be honest, he didn't even sound that oriental to begin with, and what is that Gheistling doing there watching us?"

"Huh?"

Sure enough, a familiar pale-skinned being had managed to make his way onto the rooftop. Poised as if it about to attack, neither scientist, policewoman nor science's creation made a single move during those next few moments, as if they were waiting for the opponent's most minor mistake in order to take the win.

"I never knew they could get up onto the _roof_," Jaxx pondered, positioning himself infront of Katja like a human shield. "We'll just have to do something about that, won't we? Oh yes we will, I'm going to make sure of that or my name isn't Vryer Cohen. Which it isn't, and I'm bloody well glad it's not!"

Noticing the Gheistling was distracted by his fellow clan member's ramblings, Katja slowly began to pull the pistol out of her skirt back pocket; however caution soon turned to pure shock when she noticed Jaxx had suddenly stabbed the being in the chest; twisting the insides of the being with what seemed like a knife, she couldn't help staring in shock at the merciless expression etched on his face.

"Jaxx! What are you doing?"

His response was nothing less than brutal; yanking the knife out of the Gheistling, he looked on with a manic sort of pride as the being stumbled onto it's knees before tumbling onto it's deathbed of flowing scarlet.

"Another job beautifully done, Red Monarch," he murmured, kissing the blood-stained metal before giving the liquid scarlet a quick lick. Shuddering in what seemed like ecstasy, as he stared at the heart that was still determined to beat in his hand, he suddenly tore into the thick flesh with his teeth; his indulgence causing Katja to almost retch there and then, whilst his own expression showed nothing but morbid delight.

"Ok," she said, rather cautiously and slightly trembling. "I never would have guessed you were..._that way_."

"Not so obvious when one doesn't carry a corpse with them all the time, is it!" He exclaimed, smirking as he did so, and causing to Katja to shriek a little when he stepped forward in quite a ravenous manner. "I wonder if you're as sweet as you look, Miss Noble!"

"Don't do that!" She protested, but she was giggling all the same; however, smiles soon turned to pouts when she felt a few loose locks brush her face.

"My bun's coming loose," she whined, clutching her blonde hair as if she was desperately willing them to stay neat and intact. "Ugh, I feel so _unprofessional!_"

Downing the rest of the heart just to free his hands, Jaxx was careful not to hurt the Sentinel's head as he tried to fix her hair; despite all temptation to wring her pretty, little neck, he was still acting upon his plan of good behaviour. Yet it seemed that no matter how well he was behaving, Katja still had reason to complain.

"You're getting blood in my hair!"

However, bodily fluids in her blonde locks was the least of their worries when the pair suddenly heard what seemed like a crazy ruckus on the HQ's main floor below.

"We got another one! We got another one of those dirty GHEIST _bastards_!"

"I think you'd best stay here," Katja warned, sounding genuinely worried as she began to make her way to the stairs that descended to the main floors. "This could get ugly."

"Which is exactly why I feel the need to step in," he retorted, having no problems in lightly pushing the female away as he briskly made his own way in the same direction. Quickly making his descent but careful not to fall over, Jaxx soon found himself face to face with what seemed like an unfair match-up; 5 Sentinel against 1 GHEIST, and noticing just who was under the Sentinel hold meant the redhead wasn't about to run away from his clanmate's predicament.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," he began, approaching the group. "You might want to step away from Mr Wissenschaft."

The general reply of "Mr Wissenschaft?" made itself known through the Sentinel group, causing Melvin to sigh in quite a frustrated manner.

"He's talking about the Ratman, idiots."

"I doubt he came to cause any trouble, gentlemen," the GHEIST then explained, still acting rather politely. "He was simply worried about me, that's all, wanted to make sure I was alright. For which I'm grateful."

At that point, the Ernst was grinning at him in a similar, gratuitous manner; not grateful for the fact that Jaxx was also grateful, but grateful for the fact that Jaxx was basically willing enough to save his behind.

"Because you see, even the GHEIST have..._friends_."

He'd managed to swallow down and say the "f" word without many many problems, but he could feel his stomach burning from the sickly sweetness of what he'd just said. Thinking it the ideal cure, he took a snifter of gas there and then, just about managing to ignore the flood of tense looks in his direction.

Suddenly noticing him summon Ernst to his side, the Sentinel were quick to give them room; doubtful that the GHEIST would attack there and then, they still found themselves sighing in relief when the two members passed by without any further confrontation.

"Man, that Britard gives me the creeps," Melvin muttered, shuddering as if he'd just felt a chill pass through the room.

"I can hear _every_ word you know!" Said Britard responded, unable to keep himself from flashing a smirk in his direction as the two GHEIST began to make their way to who knew where; they had no intention of making a trip to the cells, and escaping was out of the question if Jaxx's promise to Katja was anything to go by.

Noticing Ernst had hold of something once again in his mouth, Jaxx was still adamant in playing rough; tugging it from the Ratman's grip, he couldn't help shuddering as he once again came face to face with dribble.

"We really need to sort this out," the redhead complained, pulling his face a little as flecks of saliva stuck to his gloves; though disgust soon turned to delight when he noticed just what he'd grabbed from Ernst's mouth.

"The mainframe control key! Oh you clever, little sod!"

"Was ist ein _sod_?"

"Never mind," Jaxx sighed, having half-expected the "s" word to go right over his fellow GHEIST's head. "But the key will soon prove, well, _key_ to my plan."

"By the way," Ernst began, seeming as if it was something he'd wanted to say before he forgot. "I sent ein Gheistling to check up on the situation earlier but I lost contact with him as soon as he reached the HQ."

"Because I stabbed his heart, that's why."

"WAS ZUR HÖLLE?" Ernst exclaimed, suddenly sounding and seeming rather freaked out; a rare situation, since even the most disturbed results of GHEIST experiments hadn't even caused him to bat an eyelid.

"He jumped us, I stabbed his heart, and then I ate it," Jaxx explained, not sounding the least bit disgusted or concerned. But when he noticed the suspicious, somewhat aggressive expression on the Ratman's face, he couldn't help feeling slightly worried for his own safety; if Ernst was pushed enough or felt it the right thing to do, he was capable of seriously injuring the likes of Vladimir or Methane, so someone of a slender build like Jaxx would be an easy kill. And at that moment, it was making Jaxx wish he _was_ the looming hulk that the Rescue always made him out to be.

"_Us_?"

"Miss Noble let me out of my cell after one of my little gas attacks, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be talking to you right now. If I'd let the Gheistling kill her, it would have spelt the end of me and-"

"You'd have never defended any of _our_ clan's weibchen like that, and yet you seem so happy to have saved one of our enemies," Ernst interrupted, still sounding suspicious. "Just what's going on?"

Noticing his clanmate's awkward glance, he couldn't help silently swearing in a rather disgusted way when he realised the worst case possibility.

"Oh don't tell me you actually _feel_ something for the _Sentinel_..."

"No...of course not," Jaxx said, bravely meeting the Ratman's eyes, but the scarlet slowly appearing in his cheeks seemed to say otherwise...


	5. Viral Infatuation

"Just what are we waiting for?" Ernst asked, sounding rather agitated and impatient. "Let's get out of here whilst we still have ein chance!"

Expecting the sharp nip of claw against the thin material of his gloves, Jaxx couldn't help jumping slightly when he suddenly felt a nibble against his skin; soon having to deal with the Ratman tugging on his sleeve in his teeth, the redhead automatically found himself pulling away rather violently and almost causing said sleeve to rip.

"Teeth off the jacket!" He retorted, sounding rather irritated, but he followed his fellow GHEIST all the same; making a dash through the twists and turns of the corridors, the two males managed to make their way to the main cell corridor with little problem whatsoever. However, their arrival seemed to be a problem for Luba, who had immediately edged herself to the front of her cell as she was wearing a slightly curious yet frustrated expression.

"Jaxx! Ernst! What the hell?"

"We've come to get you out of here, Miss Rhinehart!" The redhead exclaimed, tugging at the metal bars that formed the door; realising the door was locked, he then frantically begin to twist what looked like a short nick of metal between his gloved digits, which he had seemingly retrieved from his trouser pocket.

"Come on, come on...blast! I guess Mr Cohen was lying to me, like he always does, when he said carrying a little nick of malleable metal would come in useful. It doesn't seem to want to assume shape whatsoever...is it really so hard to form a lockpick? Seriously, I swear-

"Jaxx!" Luba hissed, her tone sounding quite urgent as she interrupted his unnecessary rambling. "Shut up and don't be stupid. Just focus on getting yourself and Ernst out of here!"

"But Miss Rhinehart-"

"I'd only slow you down! Besides," she explained, turning her left foot to the light and making the males realise just how right she was. "I can't really run in these heels. Why do you think I take things slowly? You can't really rush into things when you're an assassin of my methods."

"How can you even _walk_ in those..." Ernst softly pondered, staring at the black leather and the heighted stub that called itself the heel. However, his harmless wondering was soon interrupted by Jaxx's sudden,frantic demeanour.

"No time for trivial musings, Mr Wissenschaft!" He exclaimed, grabbing the Ratman by the sleeve and dragging him along in the pursuit of an exit. However, when he soon stopped just a foot or two short of said exit, Ernst couldn't help singing in irritation at his constant halts, yet thought it best to avoid the idea of tugging on his sleeve once more.

"We could break through his door and escape authority forever," the redhead began to muse, staring at the steel barrier. "Well, for a short while anyway."

"Then why don't we?"

"Because of me, that's why," chirped a calm yet firm sounding voice, which caused the Ratman to give a small, sharp hiss. As she stood just a couple of feet away from the two males, Katja couldn't help shaking her head in disappointment.

"Jaxx," she began, continuing her firm but fair tone. "When you promised me you wouldn't try to escape, it wasn't just for that moment you know? You promised no escaping for the entire time you were here, solo _and_ with accomplices."

"Ok, if you _must_ know, I _was_ planning to escape," he immediately confessed, sighing with slight regret as he did so and causing Ernst to stare up at him in a mixture of shock and disgust; never did a GHEIST submit to a Sentinel's orders, and yet Jaxx seemed willing to tell Katja every last detail. He couldn't believe it.

"Perhaps the best thing would be to stay here," Jaxx muttered, refusing to move despite the Ratman's constant, begging eyes. "Besides...I did _promise_."

Noticing him divert his gaze downwards in a rather bashful fashion, Katja couldn't help smiling at him in a rather proud way; but her pride didn't stay for long when she caught sight of his suddenly demonic smile.

"Hah! Like Jaxx Britton keeps his bloody promises, Miss Noble!" He declared, pushing her out of the way rather fiercely. As she fell to the floor with a heavy thud, he'd already initiated his escape with Ernst, and neither were emotionally stricken enough to give a second glance at the weakened blonde. She was breathing heavily, trying to keep her natural rhythm despite what seemed like agonised impact, and wincing with every second used in her attempt to sit up.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage?" She managed to mutter through gritted teeth, sounding rather insulted at the whole situation when she sensed an nearby presence.

"Erm, I dunno who you're referring to, but it's me, Melvin," replied the nonchalant voice, slowly approaching her as his footsteps heavily tapped on the floor. "This isn't the time to be relaxing on the job, girl "

Chuckling to himself, he was soon sounding rather shocked when he noticed the exact state his fellow Sentinel was in.

"_HOLY SHIT_! What the hell _happened_?"

"One of the prisoners escaped."

"Bit of a brutal escape plan," Melvin responded, quick to bend down to Katja's aid but having to remember to handle her gently in his somewhat alerted manner. "That's some nasty backlash. And you seem really winded. Just who managed to do this? Was it Zatman? I bet it was Zatman."

"Jaxx."

"...what."

"Jaxx. He escaped with his little rat friend," she said, her voice hushed as if normal talk was too much effort for her. "He gave me his word and yet he still escaped."

-

"Jaxx! You're back! And thanks for bringing the dog home with you."

Ernst couldn't help shooting a rather dark glance at his clanmate's direction as he began to nibble on his newest piece of cheese; it wasn't the first time Zero Dead had referred to him as a dog, and it was obvious the hacker wasn't about to stop anytime soon, but it still frustrated him all the same.

"I'm afraid I wasn't able to use "C0P-0UT" against the Sentinel," Jaxx said, sounding apologetic as he placed the disc on Zero Dead's worktop. "Let's just say things happened, and they got a little out of hand."

"The disc wasn't to _go_ to them, actually," the other male explained, furiously typing what looked like binary code if the continuous digits on the screen meant anything. "But I did need someone to steal the control key."

Noticing Zero Dead point out the small key-like object around his neck, Jaxx swiftly yet carefully began to remove it from his person; having to remove his bowler hat to do so, he couldn't help grinning in a rather childish way when he knocked Ernst's hat off his head and replaced it with his own.

"I know this key's important," he said, managing to manoeuvre the chain through his messy hair without any tangles, before handing it to the hacker. "But I don't really understand _why_."

"It's simple really," his fellow GHEIST explained, slowly and deliberately whilst inserting the key into the drive. "This contains the code to access the Sentinel's master mainframe away from HQ computers. Believe me, they'd need something like that. The code means free access, which means I can implement the virus, means I can wipe out their entire data, defences and all with just one attack. It's going to be so _awesome_!"

"And I want to watch!" Ernst requested, sounding rather chirpy as he sprayed cheese crumbs everywhere; his action causing Zero Dead to sigh as he wiped the crumbs off his precious work area, neither GHEIST noticed Jaxx's rather pensive expression. He'd only meant to act out of kindness as part of his malicious plan, but now he was actually starting to feel bad about their planned fate for the police force. Well, that's if the sudden "drop" in his very being meant anything by it.

"This is wrong," he began, snatching the disc from Zero Dead's hands and looking rather keen to break it. "This is wrong and I won't let it happen."

"What the heck has come over you, man?"

"Look, I know they're our enemies and I shouldn't give two squat about it but bloody hell, they work _hard_! Besides...there's never any satisfaction if you make the fight against the enemy _too_ easy."

"Oh don't tell me you actually _feel_ something for the _Sentinel_!"

Feeling his chest (or something in that surrounding area) twinge in quite a pained way, Jaxx could feel his two decisions conflicting in his throat; wanting to confess yet wanting to deny, he swallowed down his uneasiness a few seconds later and felt an ever-so-familiar smile form on his face.

"Of course not," he said, with a slightly demented twinkle in his eye as he handed the disc back to the other male. "Infect away, Mr Dead. Wipe out the Sentinel for _good_."

Though despite his manic confidence, the redhead couldn't help making himself scarce before his fellow GHEIST initiated their technological trickery.


	6. Scarlet Fever

Despite it being only early evening, Jaxx had retired to his quarters just to get it away from it all; yet he couldn't seem to rid his mind of the fact that the two GHEIST were about to launch their attack. It pained him that he actually cared so much about the _Sentinel_ of all clans, and it pained him even more that it was obvious his fellow clan mates didn't feel the same.

"This isn't going to be the easiest job I've ever done," the hacker explained, pointing out the strand of code to the Ratman as he spoke. "You see that? That's what we type to get things started."

It was feeling more and more like a basic lesson in hacking than the greatest attack of all time with every second, but Zero Dead didn't seem to mind; if Ernst was interested, why deny him the fun?

"I want to try!" He suddenly exclaimed, sneaking a quick tap of the keyboard and chuckling to himself.

"Sorry, man," he said, sounding apologetic with a quick shake of the head. "This is going to need someone experienced like me if we're going to do an awesome job."

Gently slapping Ernst's claw away as he began to type in what seemed like a likely combination, the hacker couldn't help gasping in pleasant surprise at his immediate access.

"The control key's their only line of defence it seems. There's no other passwords or codes needed," he commented, focusing on the screen as he continued to type in characters. Many would have called the lack of password affair the most basic of mistakes, but when one remembered that the Sentinel were near impossible for the likes of even _Keanew_ to hack at times, it suddenly made sense; the police were so confident in their defences that they were convinced their network was their domain and their domain alone.

Either that, or they thought their enemies would never think to steal the control key from their very HQ.

"Surely this can't be _too_ difficult, given how little defence they seem to have. Hmmm...I wonder what would happen if I did _this_?"

Tapping the key in quite a confident yet cocky manner, Zero Dead's face soon fell from it's content when a rather unwelcome sight caught his notice; along the code that spelt out the Sentinel's mainframe, there seemed to be a second line of code in bright, scarlet text.

"Is someone else trying to hack their system?" Ernst questioned, rather cautiously as he knew what Zero Dead could get like about potential rivals.

"No," the other male replied, sounding a little insulted at the situation. "Someone's trying to cut us off- who the fuck is, I don't know, we'll call them...Scarlet Fever. Who the fuck is Scarlet Fever and what are they doing defending the system?"

"Ist das überhaupt möglich?"

"If you said what I think you said, it won't be possible for long," Zero Dead responded, determined to deter all intruders; furiously typing for all he was worth, he couldn't help staring at the screen in a rather dumbfounded manner when he was face to face with a very familiar red and black skull symbol.

"Scarlet Fever...is one of _our_ lot?"

Whilst Zero Dead was engrossed in his hacker-esque warfare against Scarlet Fever, Ernst couldn't help pricking his head up in anticipation; giving a couple of sniffs and wondering where the faint smell of gas had come from, he darted off through the connecting sewers in search of the source. Despite the smell almost knocking him a little disorientated, the Ratman still managed to keep his focus; slowing down to a shocked halt when he realised just where his target was located.

Peering through the door as quietly as he could, Ernst tried to get a better view by pushing said door open just a fraction; only to be nursing his claw moments later when he received a small yet nasty dose of static shock, causing a quiet, hissed "autsch!" But upon a successful second attempt to peer through the open gap, Ernst couldn't help feeling like he'd made the discovery of the century; either Jaxx had been keeping his hack skills a secret, or he was just really lucky. However, one quick glimpse of an almost-empty gas canister, along with the strong stench of Xantio-Serum in the air, meant he was obviously gassed up and acting on manic impulse. And with manic impulse came his usual symptoms of heightened sense; immediately sensing Ernst's presence, he couldn't help addressing him in quite a growling, intimidating tone, almost as if he was trying to ward his fellow GHEIST off.

"Piss off, Mr Wissenschaft, if you know what's good for you."

"Nein, _traitor_!"

"TRAITOR? I'm just trying to stop Mr Dead from plunging himself into failure, that's all. The Sentinel will wipe him out before he can implement the virus!"

"Then work _with_ him then, Jaxx, instead of letting das gas take over and defending the police!"

Feeling his fellow clanmate nudging him violently in a bid to take over the controls, Jaxx couldn't help fighting fire with fire; the Xantiax slightly beginning to wear off, yet still influenced enough by the gas and still easily the strongest of the two males.

"I SAID PISS OFF!"

But as he pushed Ernst onto the floor, he felt his elbow smash into the keyboard; staring at the on-screen result, he found himself suddenly cursing in fury when he saw that Scarlet Fever and C0P-0UT had suddenly both attacked the system _together_.

"BOLLOCKS!"

"SCHEISSE!"

However, the Ratman seemed to have the same reaction, causing Jaxx to realise he'd read the situation all wrong.

"You've just sent Zero Dead off their scent, you complete and utter _dummkopf_..."

-

"...and that's exactly what happened. He acted like ein traitor, but you can't be too mad. He had his crazy, crazy reasons. "

"It's going to take me ages to reinstate that code...I can't believe Jaxx would do that to me," Zero Dead pondered; with one hand on his head and the other on the table, he suddenly hit wood with skin as he banged his fist in fury with an enraged "FUCK HIS REASONS!", causing Ernst to jump rather skittishly.

"Where is that asshole anyway?"

"He'll...he'll be back in ein while, there's something...he needs... to do."

Despite the words from the Ratman's mouth sounding like a cover-up, it was certainly anything but a lie; feeling it his duty to make sure his enemies were able to prepare themselves for future wars, Jaxx had felt no qualms in going against his own authorities to go see _the_ authorities.

As the redhead stood outside the Sentinel HQ, he felt his heart skip a beat or so due to awkward tension; one step into the line of fire, especially after the afternoon's events, and it was almost certain he wouldn't survive the rest of the day. Especially when he'd opted to leave his gas back at his own HQ, so had no means of ensuring any physical victories. Swallowing down his inhibitions, he almost forced himself into the police headquarters,

Only after a couple of steps, the scientist found himself silently swearing when he immediately noticed another all-too-familiar redhead staring him down; if looks could kill, then Jaxx would have most certainly been killed by Melvin's glare right there right then.

"Come to gloat, have we?" the Sentinel asked, almost spitting the words out in disgust. "Or have we come to be a distraction whilst Zero Dead tries to hack our systems again?"

Jaxx couldn't help shooting his own dark glance as he sensed the other male jump to conclusions; perfectly understanding the reasons for such animosity, yet it still irritated him all the same.

"Actually, I've come to help you out," the scientist explained, pulling out a familiar-looking CD out of his jacket pocket. "Mr Deadly was going to overwrite the virus with an even stronger, malicious code. But it's not in his hands anymore, or in mine for that fact."

Throwing the CD into Melvin's hands, Jaxx was still serious and genuinely apologetic as he spoke.

"Dispose of it how you will, I honestly couldn't care anymore."

"Hang on a minute, Brit-I mean, Jaxx," the Sentinel said, approaching when he sensed the other male was preparing to leave. "You're not done just yet."

At that moment, the scientist couldn't help shooting a dark, offended glance in his direction; despite his polite behaviour, he wasn't about to let the likes of a Sentinel ruffian like _Melvin_ tell him when he was finished. But it seemed the police officer wasn't phased at all, even sniggering a little at the GHEIST's expression as if he knew exactly what was going on in Jaxx's head.

"Excuse me?"

"Well," Melvin began, keeping calm and collected despite the awkwardness of the situation. "There's someone you might want to apologise to."


	7. An Almost Vicious Cycle

For the last ten minutes, Jaxx couldn't help but feel he'd been trapped; not physically like he was locked in the cell with no chance of escape, but emotionally as he found himself keep averting his gaze from a somewhat wounded Katja. As the blonde locks fell by the sides of her slightly dirty face, she couldn't help but sense how much "on-edge" the GHEIST male felt about the situation as the pair continued to sit and chat in the metal container that was the cell.

"I guess I was somewhat stupid to expect you to keep any promises," she confessed, beginning to twiddle with a long strand of her blonde hair; soon stopped by Jaxx, who tucked the stray piece behind her ear, she felt her face then turn from it's serious expression to a slight smile.

Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Jaxx couldn't keep fighting the little niggles inside his mind; he wanted to let her know that she was one of a kind (a Sentinel that he didn't completely despise), but he knew it would easily be taken the wrong way. It wasn't infatuation but a glimmer of admiration, and he hoped Katja would know the difference when he suddenly gave her a quick, somewhat shy kiss on the cheek.

"Get off me," she demanded, making it obvious the smile wasn't about to come back. "I thought you were different from other GHEIST, but of course your being nice was a charade. Makes me glad you'll be staying in this cell, since you had the nerve to come back to the HQ."

"I know," he replied, unable to meet her gaze; yet he accepted his fate, if his willing hands in the "cuffed" position were anything to go by.

"Oh stop with the whole act, Jaxx. You're not to be trusted. And the least you could do is clean your neck," she scoffed, beginning to turn away; however, after a double take and realising the rust-coloured mark was not mere dirt, the Sentinel couldn't help wearing a slightly perturbed expression.

"What happened?"

"Oh, this," Jaxx simply said, shrugging it off with a somewhat disgruntled "huh". "Ernst managed quite the scratch when we started scrapping over the keyboard."

As he unbuttoned the first few fastenings on his shirt and pulled down his collar a little, he revealed a rather deep, scarlet cut on the side of his neck; allowing the Sentinel to take a closer look, both scientist and police officer couldn't help shuddering a little when she brushed the throbbing cut with her fingertips.

"It doesn't look much, but if he'd gone just that little bit deeper, I could have been killed. Or rendered mute at least, since he would have torn through my vocal chords before he got to the actual...yeah."

"So why were you scrapping like that in the first place?"

"Because I was trying to repent for my actions," He responded, sounding rather blunt as if he expected Katja to get it straight away. "Unfortunately my clanmates didn't believe I'd committed any sin, and considered my making up for them to be the actual wrongdoing."

"And exactly what sort of sin requires repentance by having a fight with an overgrown ratman?"

Suddenly jumping when Jaxx threw his fist against the wall in quite a rage-like manner, Katja couldn't help feeling slightly frightened when it seemed he'd snapped at her constant questioning.

"I was Scarlet Fever, ok? I felt so sickened by the fact the clan were going to go ahead with the plan after you helped me that I tried to help your pathetic little clan!"

Despite the fact the scientist had insulted her clan with the word "pathetic", she couldn't help hushing her tone when she realised just what he'd been trying to imply; trying her best to keep her serious, cold composure , Katja could feel the obvious question about to escape her lips.

"Wh—what are you trying to say, Jaxx?"

"I...I was trying to make up for betraying you. You wouldn't think it about GHEIST members, but we do feel remorse, we do feel pain, and we certainly do feel _guilt_."

"So...you went against your own just to protect _me_?"

"I care about you, Miss Noble. That's the simple and honest truth," he said, gently taking hold of her and giving her a quick, gentle hug; not even knowing himself whether he was keeping up a pointless charade or giving into his true feelings, he couldn't help feeling touched when he realised he hadn't been punched in the face or repelled in some way upon contact.

"Well...I guess you'd have just let that Gheistling kill me there and then if that wasn't the case," Katja said, the smile slowly returning to her face as she found herself unable to make eye contact with him due to flattery-induced blushing. "Maybe I was being a bit too rash in saying that your niceness was just an act."

Once again proving she was one of the _nicer_ Sentinel when it came to criminals, she suddenly grabbed hold of the redhead and gave him what seemed like a friendly, returned hug; feeling all the resentment towards him just "lift" as she did so, forgiveness soon turning to shock as she heard a familiar tinkle of metal.

"My keys!"

But before Katja could snatch and reclaim them from Jaxx, the scientist had already slammed the cell door and locked her into the metal container; his trademark grin returning to his face, he shot her a devious, victorious glance before darting off in his bid to escape.

One would have expected the blonde's cries to be that of anger, but her exclamation had sounded more like a plea than a threat.

"You come back here, Jaxx Britton!"

"My apologies, Miss Noble," he declared, tipping his bowler hat in a gentlemanly gesture to the Sentinel female. "But it's like you said. I'm not to be trusted!"

-

"But...what about the scary Narwhals?"

"Two things, Ernsty. One, you've been watching far too many internet videos with Zero Dead again, and two, we're based in the _sewers_. There's no way a Narwhal would survive this dirty, cramped system long enough to hurt anyone.

As the Ratman stared at her with a slight, canine-like tilt of the head and a rather confused look on his face, Astrid could feel she was reaching her limits; inquisitive natures were one thing, and she loved Ernst to bits, but her fellow GHEIST was so curious about everything that sometimes it just wasn't cute anymore but pretty darn frustrating.

"If you're not careful, Ernsty, curiosity will soon kill the _rat_," she stated, chuckling a little as she carried on tending to her worms. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch the wormlings, they'll bite you and it'll hurt, believe me!"

Suddenly, the couple were distracted by the hard slamming of the metal door, revealing a very familiar clan member.

"Heeeeeeeeeeere's Jaxxy!"

"Sentinel got fed up of you after only a couple of hours, did they?" Astrid asked, sounding a little sarcastic. "Not surprised. It's always the manic, annoying ones who end up driving them over the edge."

"Miss Wurmwoode, I'd appreciate it if you kept your comments to yourself, thank you very much."

"Just saying, that's all," she retorted, suddenly wincing as a familiar, green liquid stung her skin; soon raising her finger to the worm on her shoulder, she couldn't help waving it a little in a disapproving manner.

"Naughty wormling! What did I say about not spitting on Mommy?"

"You're mad," Jaxx simply said, turning his back on the female GHEIST with a rather frustrated sigh, and not caring for the somewhat irritated glare that Ernst was giving him. However, he was soon caring about the little twinge he suddenly felt in his chest; quick to rely on his gas, he felt the twinge quickly remove itself once he'd been exposed to the scarlet fumes.

"Put the gas down, Jumpin' Jack Flash," Astrid declared, sounding a little irked. "There's a fine, fine line between required dosages and getting hooked, you know?"

At that moment, one of the worms seemed to have caught scent of the gas, suddenly giving a single, small, gravelly-sounding sneeze; however, their attention was soon drawn from sneezing wrigglers to the control panel, as they noticed the monitors flickering in a rather tell-tale manner.

Immediately distracted by the flashing signals, Ernst was quick to tend to the as he pressed the buttons and twisted the dials; squinting as he did so, he was soon able to focus the clan's technology on what seemed to be a rather intruding clan.

"Oh, scheisse! Not again!"

"Who is it, Ernsty?"

"It's die Sentinel," he announced, sounding rather surprised at their arrival as he watched them via the control panel's screens; unable to then keep himself from shooting a rather experienced glance in Jaxx's direction, Ernst was soon nursing a sore, throbbing wound when the redhead suddenly smacked him around the head.

"Oh please, Mr Wissenschaft," he said, with a slight smirk on his face. "Nice guys finish last. I'm _not_ going through all _that_ again."

"Nicht einmal für alle dem Gas in der Welt?"

Despite being unable to form even one sentence in German, Jaxx couldn't help smiling as he heard Ernst's words; taking yet another sifter of gas he did so, he glanced at the canister before shifting his attention to the inquisitive Ratman."

"No, Mr Wissenschaft. Not even for all the gas in the world. This time, we live to win! We fight for our lives! We show them who's boss! We-"

"Ok, does someone want to tell me exactly what's been going on here?"

Noticing Astrid's inquisitive yet curious stance, Jaxx couldn't help chuckling at her misunderstanding; summoning Ernst to his side once more and ushering the female to follow him in their route towards the closest sewer exit, the redhead seemed calm in the panic despite the oncoming violence that was bound to greet them.

"It's a long story, Miss Wurmwoode," he said, still managing to maintain his trademark smile. "But once we dispose of the police, I'll be willing to tell you _everything_."


End file.
